Messi Hits Out At Abidal Following Player Criticism

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi responded back at his former player colleague Eric Abidal who had strong criticism for the Blaugrana for their recent performances. Abidal, who played alongside Messi at Camp Nou and now acts as Barca’s technical secretary, held an interview with Sport which was published on Tuesday. In the interview the Abidal suggested that part of the dressing room was not performing up to expectations under former coach Ernesto Valverde. Abidal said:

“A lot of players were not happy and did not work much and there was also a problem with internal communication,” he told the newspaper.

“The relationship between the coach and dressing room was always good, but there are things that as an ex-player I can sense. I told the club what I thought and we had to make a decision.”

Well it seems like Messi did not like the comments and went on Instagram to voice his displeasure. Which is a rarity for Messi:

It translates in English to:

“I honestly do not like to do this kind of thing but I think that everyone has to be responsible for their job and take responsibility for their decisions,” the Argentine fired on Instagram.

“Players are responsible for what happens on the field, we are also the first to acknowledge when we don’t play well.

“Those in charge of sporting direction should also face up to their responsibilities and above all take charge of their own decisions.

“Lastly, I think that when you talk about players, you should give names because otherwise you are tainting everyone’s name and feeding rumours that spread and are not true.”